Composition of matter for making road markers, laying floors, and the like



Patented Jan. 22,, 1946 ll COMPOSITION OF MATTER FOR G ROAD MARKERS,LAYING moons, AND

THELIKE Francis J. Farrell, Philadelphia,

Pa, assignor, by

mesne assignments, to Martin Linda-bury and Glenn A. Lindabury,

bury and Sons,

pany, Burlington, N. J2

No Drawing. Application August M, 1942, Serial No. 454,878

1 Claim.

Until comparatively recently it has been the practice to paint thesurfaces of city streets as well as highways in order to divide the sameinto traffic lanes or in order to indicate the direction in whichtraffic may turn, etc. The paint thus applied was obliterated by trafllcin a relatively short period of time and had to be constantly renewed atgreat expense and effort. Also, painted lines, especially after a shortperiod of use, lost a great deal of their visibility.

In order to circumvent this disadvantage it has heretofore been proposedto marl: streets and highways by inserting thereinto nails having largeheads or, more recently, it has been proposed to use rubber discssuitablv fastened to the surface oi the road. An example of the latterexpedient can be found in my prior Patents Numbers 2,166.66?) and2,180,105.

in the present emergency, when rubber for this purpose is unobtainableand when adequate marking of roads for civilian and'military tramc ismost urgent, it becomes necessary todevise a substitute which is equallyor more advantageous than rubber markers and which can be made frommaterials which do not conflict with national military needs. p

Also in war production plants, especially where great accuracy isneeded, it is essential that workmen be provided-with adequate lightwithout excessive glare which would result from the use of extremelyhigh powered lights. To do this it is necessary to have very whiteflooring which will adequately reflect light instead of absorbing agreat portion of the light as the case would be if the flooring was nota good reflector.

To thi end I have devised a novel composition of matter which can beused for either of these two prime as well as for other purposes.

In making my novel material I utilize approximately 71% marble dust orany substitute having calcium carbonate as its approximately 5 amorphouswax. approximately 12% pine rosin or natural or synthetic resin,approximately 4% castor oilfapproximately 3% titanium dioxide andapproximately 5% cellulose acetate or wood flour. A predeterminedquantity of the ingredients mentioned in about the proportions stated isplaced in a tightly sealed steamjacketed mixer and is agitated underapproximately 300 F. for about twenty-five minutes. This causes thevarious in redients to fuse together to form a substance which isplastic so that it can be molded into shape while it is hot but whichsets or hardens relatively quickly. The marble dust, I have found. hasgreater compata bility and blending power with the other ingredients andseems to possess an amount of porosity which enables predominantconstituent,-

it. in a manner of speaking.

so claim as new and 55 consisting of about 71% radius as H. R. LindaandNew Jersey Fence Com- I (Cl. lim -195i) to absorb the remainingingredients. The titanium dioxide serves as a bleacher" and increasesthe whiteness of the resultant product while the wax, rosin and oilserve as combined bonds and plasticizers. The cellulose acetate givesthe mod uct a certain amount of m'alleability as distin guished frombrittleness thus increasing the toughness and preventing shattering. There sultant product has a coemcient of expansion and contraction veryclose to that of ordmary roads, has about the same coeii'icient of wearand, when laid in position in the hot state, forms a firm bond with theroad bed.

When used as flooring heat the section oi the iioor on which the composition is to be laid and then rapidly to transier the compositionwhile in the plastic state onto the iioor to be covered. While thecomposition is still warm and plastic it is rolled or otherwise suitablytamped in position, the process being similar to the laying of concretesquares eaccpt that my composition has to be laid while it is hot andthat it sets much more quickly than concrete. A floor so built has awhiter suriace than when built of concrete so that it reflects morelight thus saving in power conption and ai'icrdina better vision andisalso easier to wait: and stand.

on than concrete as it is more resilient and shccio absorbing.

in using my composition as a road an especially designed apparatus,which I will close in a separate application, is used for pre heating arelatively narrow strip in the surface of the highway andsimultaneouslycutting a channel therein of the desired depth and width.This is done while the composition is being mixed and prepared and asthe requisite channel is formed the prepared mixture is placed thereinand tampecl or otherwise rolled in position. in a very it short'time themarking strip thus formed has set and hardened so that it is availablefor traffic and a firm and water-tight bond is formed between I themarking strip and the walls of the channel.

If it is desired to place round spaced markers on the surface of thehighway, the operation is the same except that instead of channels roundrecesses are formed into which the warm. plastic composition is placed.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to secure by LettersPatent is:

A thermoplastic road marking material having substantially the samecoemcient of expansion and contraction as a road surface, said materialmarble dust, 5% amor phous wax, 12% resin, 4% castor oil, 3% titaniumdioxide and 5% wood flour. a

FRANCIS J.

recast it is preferable to the

